Chantal van den Broek-Blaak wins women's Tour of Flanders

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Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Boels Dolmans) has won the women's Tour of Flanders. Attacking on the Oude Kwaremont 19 kilometres from the finish, Van den Broek-Blaak went solo and held off a chasing group to the finish in no small part due to the work of her teammates who disrupted the chase.

Amy Pieters concluded a great day for Boels Dolmans by winning the sprint for second place ahead of Lotte Kopecky (Lotto Soudal).

“I feel very happy, I was waiting the whole season for this moment. I have thought about this race for a long time and now I finally have it,” said van den Broek-Blaak. 

“When I was still ahead after the Paterberg, I thought I could win if they started to look at each other behind. I heard on the radio that Anna [van der Breggen] and Amy were in the group behind me and knew they would cover the moves well. I only had to keep riding as hard as possible.”

How it unfolded

Fifteen kilometres into the 135.6km race, a break of seven riders went away and built a gap of up to 3:45 minutes. Two of the escapees lost contact early on, but the remaining five continued to lead the race for a long time. Several times, small chase groups sat in between the front group and the peloton, but none of them lasted long.

In the peloton, it was Boels Dolmans’ world champion Anna van der Breggen who set a hard pace on the Kanarieberg with 45km to go, reducing the size of the group as well as the gap to the break. Five kilometres later, the breakaway was caught on the lower slopes of the Taaienberg. Demi Vollering (Parkhotel Valkenburg) tried to get away but was quickly reeled in by Van der Breggen.

The next move came from Riejanne Markus (CCC-Liv) who was followed by Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM). Together, the two riders built an advantage of 52 seconds as they started the Kruisberg-Hotond with 30km to go.

Van der Breggen led the peloton on the cobbled Kruisberg, reducing the group further, and Van den Broek-Blaak launched an attack right after the top, into the asphalted Hotond climb. She quickly had Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit-WNT) and Van der Breggen in her wheel, and though things came back together, this spelled the end of the breakaway of Markus and Amialiusik.

Van den Broek-Blaak made another attempt to get away, and when she was reeled in, Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) put in her trademark attack. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) tried to follow but had to leave a gap over the top of the Hotond, and Van Vleuten quickly got a sizable advantage.

In the descent, Van der Breggen went on the chase alone. When she eventually bridged to Van Vleuten, she refused to take any turns, allowing the following group to close the 15-second gap.

17 riders entered the Oude Kwaremont together, with Brennauer and Van Vleuten in the lead. As the road flattened out near the top, Van den Broek-Blaak accelerated in the saddle to make another attack. Vollering and Brennauer tried to get in her wheel, but just missed the moment, and Van den Broek-Blaak had a five-second advantage as she turned off the climb.

On the way to the Paterberg, eleven riders were left to chase her, two of whom were her teammates. On the Paterberg, Van Vleuten did another acceleration, as did Longo Borghini, but the chase group went over the top of the final climb together, 20 seconds behind Van den Broek-Blaak.

With Van der Breggen and Pieters disrupting the chase behind, Van den Broek-Blaak could extend her advantage to 1:01 minutes at the finish, celebrating her first Tour of Flanders victory in her eleventh participation.

In the group behind, there were attacks from Grace Brown (Mitchelton-Scott), Van Vleuten, Uttrup Ludwig, and Floortje Mackaij (Team Sunweb), but none of them were able to get away, and Pieters won the sprint for second place ahead of Kopecky and Brennauer.